George Vandenhoff (18 February 1820 - 15 June 1885) was an English actor and

elocution Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea that while communication is symbolic, sounds are final and compelli ...

ist who performed in Britain and the United States.

Life

Vandenhoff was born in 1820 in England, a son of Elizabeth (born Pike) and the notable English actor

John Vandenhoff John Michael Vandenhoff (31 March 1790 – 4 October 1861) was an English actor. He performed in London theatres, and also in Edinburgh and Liverpool; he played leading roles including those in Shakespearean tragedy. Life Vandenhoff was born in ...

. His elder sister was the actor

Charlotte Vandenhoff Charlotte Elizabeth Vandenhoff (1818 – 31 July 1860), became Charlotte Swinbourne, was a British actress who appeared in leading theatres in London, New York and Philadelphia. Life Vandenhoff was born in Liverpool in 1818. Her parents were El ...

. He debuted in ''

Rule a Wife and Have a Wife ''Rule a Wife and Have a Wife'' is a late Jacobean stage comedy written by John Fletcher. It was first performed in 1624 and first published in 1640. It is a comedy with intrigue that tells the story of two couples that get married with false p ...

'' at the

Covent Garden Theatre The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

on 14 October 1839. He came to the United States in 1842, debuting in a performance as Hamlet, and appeared in productions in New York. In 1846, he gave the "Opening Address" at the new

Howard Athenaeum The Howard Athenæum (1845–1953), also known as Old Howard Theatre, in Boston, Massachusetts, was one of the most famous theaters in Boston history. Founded in 1845, it remained an institution of culture and learning for most of its years, final ...

in Boston. Vandenhoff married American actress Mary E. Makeah in Boston in 1855. After leaving acting, he began practicing as a lawyer (in which profession he had previously been trained) by 1858.George Vandenhoff
Strangers to us All: Lawyers and Poetry, Retrieved 1 March 2017 He also authored books about performing and reading in public. Well known for his skills in public speaking, in 1869, Vandenhoff was lured by author

Charles Reade Charles Reade (8 June 1814 – 11 April 1884) was a British novelist and dramatist, best known for '' The Cloister and the Hearth''. Life Charles Reade was born at Ipsden, Oxfordshire, to John Reade and Anne Marie Scott-Waring, and had at leas ...

to read a large portion of his 1866 novel '' Griffith Gaunt'' to the jury in a defamation trial. Hudson, Frederic
Journalism in the United States, from 1690-1872
pp. 748-49 (1873)Etc.
''The Overland Monthly'', p. 387 (April 1869) (humorous commentary on Vandenhoff's role at the trial)(27 February 1869)
"Griffith Gaunt" in court; Charles Reade's action for libel against the editors of the Round Table - the trial commenced
'' The New York Times'' He died in Brighton, England, in June 1885.George Vandenhoff
American National Biography Online, Retrieved 1 March 2017 (appears to have incorrect death date)(1 September 1886)
Death of George Vandenhoff
''Portland Daily Press''Schooley, Bill Jaye
George Vandenhoff, Nineteenth Century Elocutionist In America
Louisiana State University, Ph.D. Dissertation (1984)(14 August 1886)
The Vandenhoffs
''

The New York Mirror The ''New-York Mirror'' was a weekly newspaper published in New York City from 1823 to 1842, succeeded by ''The New Mirror'' in 1843 and 1844. Its producers then launched a daily newspaper named ''The Evening Mirror'', which published from 1844 ...

'', p. 11 (obituary)

Selected works

*
The Clay Code, or Text-Book of Eloquence
' (1844) * ''A Plain System of Elocution'' (1845) * ''Dramatic Reminiscences, or Actors and Actresses in England and America'' (1860) *
Leaves from an Actor's Note-Book
(1860) * ''The Clerical Assistant, or Elocutionary Guide'' (1862) * ''A Lady's Reader, with Rules for Reading Aloud'' (1862) *
The art of elocution
' (1862) *
The art of reading aloud
' (1878)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vandenhoff, George 1820 births 1885 deaths English male stage actors 19th-century English male actors American male stage actors 19th-century American male actors Elocutionists